Page:Some Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning.pdf/39

54 "the title in the donee by terminating the donor's right or power of defeasance. The property passes from the donor to the donee directly * * * and after his death it is liable to be divested only in favor of the donor's creditors. * ** His right and power ceased with his death."

Perhaps the nearest synonym of "liability" is "subjection" or "responsibility." As regards the latter word, a passage from Mr. Justice Day's opinion in McElfresh v. Kirkendall is interesting:

"The words 'debt' and 'liability' are not synonymous, and they are not commonly so understood. As applied to the pecuniary relations of the parties, liability is a term of broader significance than debt. * * * Liability is responsibility."

While the term in question has the broad generic connotation already indicated, no doubt it very frequently indicates that specific form of liability (or complex of liabilities) that is correlative to a power (or complex of powers) vested in a party litigant and the various court officers. Such was held to be the meaning of a certain California statute involved in the case of Lattin v. Gillette. Said Mr. Justice Harrison:

"The word 'liability' is the condition in which an individual is placed after a breach of his contract, or a violation of any obligation resting upon him. It is defined by Bouvier to be responsibility."